OOC: I'm cooking up an ensemble sci fi thread needing several characters. PM me with character ideas. We'll begin when each writer has at least one main character and perhaps a minor character to control. We'll also be allowed occasional NPC's, non player characters who can be controlled by any of us, within reason and character perameters, to push the plot along from time to time. I am looking for writers who will stay with and add to the story. Not every moment has to lead to sex. Some characters have thoughts, emotions, personalities and sexual tension and flirtation in build up can take a long time but are so much more interesting to read and write.

The Plot
IC:

Year: 2353
Genetically modified to survive in a new environment they're expected to adapt to, science and engineering ships have been dispatched to Terra Beta, a planetoid in a "nearby" solar system through "The Hungry Caterpillar" wormhole, approximately eighty-nine light years from Earth. Earth has been sending out teams to terraform Terra Beta so it will become a new home for humankind for over a decade now and the project is in its final stages. Construction crews are now being mmodified and sent on engineer ships to build comfortable community centers and dwellings on the new home world. Cryogenic suspension and timing travel to utilize the wormhole has kept travel time down to twenty-seven months per trip (no returns) with the cryogenics leaving most crews to arrive at Terra Beta as young as they were when they'd left Earth. The modifications to allow for adapting to atmospheres with less oxygen than earth and slightly lighter gravity have meant that once someone is sent to Beta they won't survive on Earth ever again so they might as well make Beta work out. The human population on Beta is nearing three thousand. All, humans working together to create a better world for their future families. Back on earth a stark difference between the rich and the poor have left a working class with poorer health, so not passing the physical health exams required for the chance to put your name in the lottery to decide who will be put into the resettlement ships at the end of the year...and weeding out the poor and "unfit" from the "fit" has also sometimes been rigged through blackmail and bribery...the usual greed and politics. Still, with the planet's population at seven and a half billion and climbing even despite the fertility problems of the elite, something must be done. A new home must be created quickly.

The U.S.S. Hawking
It is a smaller Science and Engineering vessel from the Canadexican Alliance with a complement of sixty, mostly Engineers, Mechanics, Technicians, and Scientists. Captain Daniel Thornbush is the C.O. and has already made similar runs to the wormhole and back to supply other ships. This is his last one, set to go through the wormhole and bring these important humans to their new life on TerraBeta where he'll retire with honors.

But, something goes wrong.
Not only does the wormhole hold onto the ship instead of pushing it out the other side as it had hundreds of ships before The Hawling, it holds it for ten seconds too long, nearly crushing the ship, definitely damaging whole sections, killing those unlucky enough to be cryogenically frozen in the wrong places at the wrong time.

He awakens prematurely to the sound of the ship's automated system sounding an alarm. Commander Sam LaRoma, just six feet from his own pod, he could see his first officer's pod was crushed along with the body inside. The ship had erected a forcefield through the sections damaged,an eerily blue glow suffusing the air in grids, showing where the damage was, where the walls were basically useless to protect them from space.

Thornbush looked around the command section of cryo as he climbed out of his pod, dictating to his command log aloud, yelling over the ship's alarms, taking stock of what had occurred. They'd never made it to the other solar system where Beta waited. For the first time in over a century the wormhole had done something they had not predicted. It spat them out some place the ship's sensors did not recognize and could not measure, distance wise, how far from Earth or Terra Beta they were now left drifting as the hole collapsed, leaving them alone in a strange place, disconnected from anything familiar.

No one in this room had survived...wait...one...He pressed the override code on the keypad to enable her awakening and warming just before ducking for cover as the compromised ceiling collapsed, killing him.

Lt. Commander Alexandra (Alex) Rivers sat up, wide eyed, taking in the scene
"Holy shit!" She breathed. She listened to the Captain's log as she tried digging him out from the wreckage only to discover he was beyond saving. "Computer!" She called out, assuming that she was now probably in command and should start acting that way.

Soon a hologram schematic of the ship layout showed her both damaged areas in blue and living humans marked by red dots. She tried not to think about the white dots...there were only eleven others alive and they were spread out all over. The nearest she could see was moving from sickbay to the corridor. She headed that way.

OOC: (Rivers can be an NPC or someone who creates a good profile in PM can maybe take her on. I intend to write a former Spiritual Leader trained as a Nurse. Her name Sister Mary Grace, or Mary Rowan, her common name. She's taken a med kit and is crawling on a sore knee out of sickbay to find others.)

*Full SRP Allowed up to X Rated
(Some Characters May only be R rated or G rated)

(Mary Rowan)
Sister Mary Grace

Age: Twenty-seven
Born April 19th just outside Killarney, Ireland.
Occupation: Catholic nun/Nurse
She's been both ship counselor and medical nurse on this mission. She's been sent to join the three other nuns already on Terra Beta working under Father Bartholomew Coigne, Rabbi Sergei Horowitz, and the Dalai Lama, as they establish an all faiths non profit charitable medical center unlike the private elite only mefical centers aplenty on Earth. Terra Beta was to be a fresh start for humanity. Many missionaries from all faiths were working together in the hopes of overcoming the Elitest attitudes toward the poor.

Not much is known on government records about her. On paper she seems rather unremarkable. The second daughter in a family with two daughters and one son, she is the child of a Philanthropist born into a wealthy water desalinisation business family on her father's side. Her mother was a model and musician turned wealthy housewife with a humanitarian leaning. Mary grew up during most of her mother's Catholic phase which shifted later to Buddhist, then briefly Taoist, and the older woman is currently studying Wicca. Mary, however, saw the connection in all faiths and embraced the new model of Catholicism which strove to work side by side with all religions to create a better life for all humans. No more 'us versus them', a popular phrase in new faiths.

An above average to good student as a child, she excelled in Science, Religious Studies, and English. She played piano and guitar. She was enrolled in three spelling bees before the age of ten and got a third place prize for one of them. She was in a pageant when she was fourteen and came in second place but got the ribbon for the title of Miss Congeniality in the same pageant. She was seen buying a dress for her high school senior prom but did not attend the prom. No one saw her at her high school graduation either, though her name was called...There is a lack of information about her whereabouts or activity for nearly a year although family tax records show she was not living at home but may have been on a religious retreat in Tibet.

In April of the following year she was seen by an old school friend leaving a Catholic run adoption center in tears, leading to rumors that perhaps she'd gotten pregnant on prom night and been missing to hide her pregnancy...but, nobody had proof she'd even had a date for the prom, she'd certainly never had a boyfriend...with no guy to pin it on the rumour died down after a while. Records like that get sealed. No one would know the truth but Mary.

During that time Mary had been enrolled in Medical Studies at the University Nursing School with a Dual Major in Religious Studies. She had during this time also become a Catholic acolite. She was entering the Sisterhood as soon as would be permitted.

It was only in the months before the journey that she was finally given opportunity to take her vows.

IC:

Mary had a pain in her left knee but kept on crawling. Although sickbay was a crushed mess she'd managed to pack a medkit, laser pistol, and bag of rations into a bag she now dragged along before the lights cut out and she had tripped over Doctor Moto's body, climbing over his corpse to get to the corridor. All she could think of was getting out of there. Then, it occurred to her, "Survivors...computer!"

"Yes, Sister Mary Grace"

"Survivors...are there any others alive?"

"Yes, Sister, twelve, including you." She too looked at the holographic map and memorized who was where. One red blip was coming around the corner...

"Lt. Commander!" She tried to smile when she saw the third in command coming. She was relieved that the other woman appeared OK. "What happened?" she asked.

The sound of yelling coming from further down the corridor to the left of a set of lift doors now only lit by red emergency lighting and glowing like an eerie dying ember from a dying campfire in the night. Both women turned and began rushing toward the distressed voice...

Born into a relatively well-to-do family of civil servants, Mitchel had certain advantages that weren't available to the majority on an overcrowded Earth. Taking advantage of advanced placement courses, Mitchel was fast-tracked for a science curriculum. When the Terra Beta project began picking up steam, he moved to a focus on hydroponics. The system of soilless plant production was not only crucial to supplementing starship systems, but would be required at the destination until terraforming was complete and food could be grown in the open.

As the youngest of three children, Mitchel often was dragged along on family trips and vacations that he didn't particularly wish to attend. The one type of trip he did enjoy was one available to increasingly fewer residents of Earth. Due to their government connections, his parents were able to take the family on camping trips in the rapidly shrinking natural areas of the planet. Mitchel particularly enjoyed the week-long trips to Alaska and the interior of Canada.

Those same connections were able to secure Mitchel a place on the most recent personnel transfer to Terra Beta as the secondary hydroponics officer.

IC:

Spending a late shift working in the ship's hydroponics bay, Mitchel experienced the "event" firsthand. Thrown into one of the racks of plants, he was momentarily stunned. As his senses returned, he put his hand to his head, pulling it back, bloody. "Holy Mother...what was that?"

Dragging himself to his feet, Mitchel made his way to the hatch, stopping in confusion when the panel refused to open. Slapping the manual release several times, he punched in the override codes. The hatch still refused to open. Wiping the blood from his forehead, he paused for a moment, considering.

Turning, he moved to a nearby bulkhead and checked the air circulation systems. The hydroponics system, along with providing fresh food to supplement the stored rations, also provided a supplement to the air production facilities linked to the engines. His first duty was to ensure that the hydroponics continued to function and that the oxygen it created was available to the rest of the ship, particularly in any emergency.

After ensuring that the circulation systems were functioning and that there was no direct damage to the hydroponics themselves, Mitchel moved to the ship's hardwired intercom system. Activating the system, he called, "This is Templar in Hydroponics. The hatch to Hydroponics is jammed. Is anyone there?"

OOC‘
Crixus’ was the code name given to the programme written for the third generation of the Capua class of humanoid robots. They were built to combat the intense heat and cold spacecraft would endure during the long journeys involved in the wormhole travel to humanity’s new home. They were responsible for the health and safety of the crew as well as being armed to combat any known or unknown adversaries the pioneers might encounter.
Crixus 141 was assigned to the USS Hawking but as the whole ‘Crixus Project’ had been the subject of the Earth Government cuts the programme was not fully tested. 141 was due to be fired up and tested by Thornbush during the expedition but due to his untimely death this is no longer possible.
Sensing the danger to it’s passengers the Ship’s computer took the unusual step of implementing the ‘Emergency Procedure’ which included initiating Crixus 141.

IC

A sudden trembling shook the very core of the vacuum as air hissed into the chamber balancing the stability of the circuits. Crixus 141 was stiring to life and waiting the human voice command that would initiate the inaugural experiments.

Instead the automatic interface sprang into action placing the robot under the direct control of the on board computer invoking the emergency procedures. “Crixus 141 ready and able to invoke the emergency procedures.” The first words ever uttered by the robot. Receiving a signal from the ship computer 141sensed the difference between the living humans and the deceased. The nearest to him was Sister Mary Grace and Rivers. Stepping in front of them 141 said “Halt! Danger! Take shelter while I investigate!”

Alex Rivers ignored the robot and indicated the nun should address it. She was talking to a living human...She tapped the surgically embedded communications and information sharing device on the small pinkish scar it had left upon the back of her hand as a sort of activation switch. Her hand buzzed with a slight vibration telling her it had opened the channel.
"Mitchel, it's Alex Rivers...The Captain's dead...Almost all the pods failed...the ship is damaged all over...like a crumpled up wad of paper."

Sister Mary Grace looked at the robot and yelled, "Go find survivors. Bring them to safety and I'll find you there!" Then, she recommenced her run, motioning for Rivers to follow her.

Alex Rivers paused. She was having a hard time talking and running to keep up with the nun. She waved Sister Mary Grace on, "It's ok. Go help others. Tell me via comm. where you are gathering survivors and I'll meet you there after I've seen to freeing Templar."

The little redhead didn't waste long to consider the order. She nodded resolutely, turned, and continued making her sprint toward the screamer.

Alex now moved at a fast walk. Her altered body left her faster, stronger, superhuman in many ways, but under stress old mannerisms would return. Fatigue, she realized, could be even more mentally likely than physically. Still, whilst pacing herdelf she moved toward the hydroponics bay as swiftly as possible. She liked Mitch. He'd been a friend during pre-departure training and hearing his voice sounding alert and alive was a relief for her. "Ok, Mitchel, I'm on my way to try toget you out of there. Please tell me, other than a jammed hatch, that hydroponics is ok. I need to know we didn't survive this accident only to starve and freeze to death on the other end of the universe somewhere!"

Ray had been a 4th Generation Construction worker back on earth. He had worked on everything from building homes, to walking the high steel. He had basically been born with a tool belt around his waist. His family hadn't been poor but neither were they rich. He had been working a big construction job when he heard about this new Beta project. Thinking it might be a good way to get a new start in life away from all of earths overcrowding and pollution problems he applies for a job on it. He gets lucky and is hired as one of the laborers that will be sent out to build the cities that people will live in. He has to agree to be genetically modified but he thinks what the heck, it might be fun to be sort of like a super hero.

A year before he leaves he begins his treatments at the facility. It takes a long time but eventually his vast knowledge of building is augmented by what they want him to build on the new planetoid and how to do it. His strength is almost tripled, his speed is doubled and his endurance is increased dramatically. His ability to process food and water is improved and he can now actually get nutrients from the sun like a plant. If given at least two cups of water a day he could survive without food and work his usual 16 hrs for a week with no harmful side effects. His skin has also been toughened to resist working outdoors in harsh weather and to protect him from heavy impacts and small falls. (3 stories maximum). Balance and co-ordination has also been improved.

It takes him a while to get used to each new improvement and once all have been implemented he and thirty others are put through their paces. They have to build a house in as little time as possible form the ground up. Miraculously it takes them 5 days and none of them are tired at the end of it. The project is hailed a success and they are ready to be shipped off with the next shuttle.

IC

Ray woke up and kicked his way out of the pod. Looking around he noticed that most of the other pods had been crushed or damaged. Damn they really hadn't put much protection down here had they. He was sure it was much better up top but as usual the guy's who they actually relied upon to do all the work got stiffed. Moving to the door he found it jammed with a bit of debris. Before this would have been a problem, now he easily picked it up and tossed it out the way. Man he loved this new body. Opening the door he tried to remember his way around the ship. Suddenly the information was there. Wow he would never get used to that. Right then , he figured the best place to start would be sickbay. If people had been hurt they would head there, and obviously someone in charge would check on it. Ray checked the map in his head and set off keeping his eyes and ears open for signs of any other survivors.

Mitchel nodded, though no one could see him. "Yes Commander, everything here appears fine." He turned his gaze to the hydroponics bay. "There's no indication of a hull breach that I can find, and the air circulators seem to be working fine as well. There's some items knocked about...I mean, we never planned on the ship to collide with anything...but nothing that can't be repaired or replaced. Assuming the storage rooms haven't been damaged." He paused. "What happened to us? One minute we were fine, the next...." He trailed off.

He hoped Commander Rivers would get there reasonably soon. It's not like he was terribly claustrophobic, but being in the bay, knowing he couldn't open the hatch and leave whenever he liked was starting to prey on his mind.

Alec Whateveryourname is, I wrote you an opening and you're leaving me hanging. I will change my last post and fill this one with Mary Grace helping NPC's and communicating with Rivers and Templar and robot if I don't have to wait for your grand entrance. Who wants to start a fun game then watch everyone else play it from the sidelines? I want to get into some action!

Cheri Winston
Age: 21
Born: September 24th in Queens New York to a Somalian surgeon ( father) and half Polish/ half Puerto Rican mother who was a Science Officer in the Marine Corps. She died in the last world war when Cheri was nine years old.

Position on USS Hawking: Assistant Xenobotanist

NPC (anyone can write her)

I.C.

Cheri was dragging the body of her mentor, Dr. James Muller, out of the collapsing pod chamber and into a dark corridor when she bumped into one of the ship's robots. It apologized and asked what she was doing.

" I'm trying to save my boss!" She exclaimed, growing angry as the robot stated Dr. Muller was dead. "He can't be! He just can't be!" She cried out with emotion she knew was probably confusing to the robot. "What should I do?" She asked, feeling helpless.

The Megacity Towers are contained cities, each of them housing close to a million people, a series of skyscrapers stacked into hexagons reaching almost three miles in height, and dotting the skyscape that was once central London. the residents almost never leave their self contained worlds... they are born there, they live there, they die there. as the planetary population expands, more and more people are expected to live like ants in these singular mazes...

Quentin's father worked in 'high steel'... an archaic term from when steel was still considered a viable building material... which meant he was a laborer. any work that was of any importance at all was done by automats, so his father's daily drudgery was of almost no importance. he lived simply to live, to consume products being manufactured elsewhere to give someone ELSE a purpose, and he was just smart enough to realize it. he died in a cloud of bitter self-hatred in his mid forties.

Quentin himself knew he couldn't expect much better. he wasn't as strong as his father... and came to know dozens of ways to take a beating from the other kids that roved the halls of their cityblock like wild dogs. he was quiet, and withdrawn.... spent more time interfacing with the cities systems then with other people. over time, he knew it better than the technicians. soon, when someone had a problem... water recycling not optimal, atmospheric pressurization off, radiation shielding on the blink... it was faster and easier to go to the kid that lived with his mom than it was to call the buildings systems technicians. it became a lucrative business... and by the time he was 14 he was making twice what his father ever made.

he was also breaking at least seven different laws.

The city-cops brought him in, and were ready to book him, when he was saved by an agent from the federal office. they wanted to know how he did what he did. he showed them, and he was offered a position within their development and logistics program.

his family was moved out of the megacity, but he barely ever saw them anymore. it was in that program that he fell in love for the first time... Morgan was the only other person in the program close to his age, and was the first girl that ever seemed to even look at him. He was absolutely smitten, but could never find a way to talk to her beyond their occasional project together. after two years of dreaming about her, he realized that she had taken to sharing her bed with one of the program leads.

He wasn't heartbroken... not really. he had never had the courage to tell her how he felt. but when he came up as a possible candidate for the actual mission to Terra Beta, he decided to go for it. The bio-neural interfaces that were installed into his nervous system were extensive, but the gene manipulation treatments were the worst. still his painfully skinny, perpetually weak frame was strengthened, and for the first time in his life he felt like he was less of a pathetic geek. as he started to meet the other system operators, he realized that he was still comparatively small and thin.

He kissed his mom goodbye before they took off, and was sealed into his cryostasis pod...

IC:

The pod cracked open, and Quentin collapsed on the decking, gasping for breath. The oxygen mix was off, way off...

he tried to pull himself up, but there was a shooting pain in his arm, and he fell again... striking the plating even harder. he looked down, and realized that there was a severed slice of neural optic cord that had slashed out and punctured his arm just under the elbow. he could feel it worked into his muscle, and it stuck out the back of his arm, leading back into the pod he had just fallen from...

the nanoglass of the pod was shattered. an explosion of ridiculous magnitude would be the only thing that could possibly...

he blinked, realizing that there was a blue energy field right in front of his face. the structural integrity of the room was compromised. the explosion had actually been a depressurization.

The pain in his arm shot over his body again... like someone stabbing him everywhere, all at once. he knew he'd be in shock if he hadn't had the gene therapy. as it was, he grit his teeth, and reached out with his better hand, falling onto his back as he touched the end of the optic cord with the sensor in his palm, letting his nervous system interact with the memory stored inside the fiber.

The ship hadn't left the wormhole properly. it was a spatial anomaly. He was a systems expert, his experience with quantum navigation ended with the theoretical science of the computers... he had no idea what could have caused it.... but it didn't matter... the ship would barely be holding itself together...

he reached down... hoping his strengthened musculature system would be able to handle the pain he was about to put himself through..... gripped the nano cord, and yanked....

Born: 28 December,
Alkmaar Staad Toren Nummer 25, Noord Holland
Duty: Engineer, specialty in difficult building strategizing and problem solving. She was brought in to aid in planning the building of new cities on Terra Beta.

(NPC)

Sanne was coughing acrid smoke and climbing out of a broken stasis pod, the whole place was a loud, smoking, dark, scary disaster and not one pod in the room looked to be functioning. She tried to find a living person besides herself but discovered unbelievably, she was the only person whose pod remained mostly intact as the ship ventured through the familiar wormhole only to be nearly destroyed inside the anomaly and spat out..."Where are we?" She wondered between coughs.

She grabbed whatever supplies she might need from the lockers in the room and left it within minutes, still fighting the aching itch in her chest and throat from whatever poison she'd inhaled. The cough was persistent and alerted another to her presence soon enough. "Kom met mij." she murmured, then realized her automatic translator wasn't working properly, meaning she'd have to communicate the hard way, using her brain to translate her Dutch thoughts to English. "Come with me. I think the dining hall looks to be in a functioning section. It's a logical place for surviving crew yo gather." She announced, pulling the unknown man with her not brokering an argument duting crisis. Remarkably, he followed without complaint.

Alex arrived at the jammed hatch and began sawing through it using her laser pistol. By the time it was nearly burned completely open, the pistol was overheating and burning her hands so she put the weapon away and kicked the rest of it down, poking her head through to see Mitchel's relieved smile.
"Hey there." She said, reaching in to help him step through and join her. "Come on. I have to find out if the nun got to the screaming guy, what the wounds are, where she took him..."she said, leading the way in tthe darkness her eyes were beginning to adjust to.
" Computer!" She called out, "Where are the living people on the ship now?"

The holographic map appeared in the air before her again. Thankfully, now, many had congregated in the dining hall, a few stragglers looked to be slowly making their way there too. "Good. If anyone asks, we're having a meeting there, dininghall, in ten minutes. Anyone conscious must attend." She said. The computer then turned that sound byte into a ship wide announcement.

Location: In the craziness of my mind. Oh and my body normally resides in the land Down Under.

Posts: 7,381

Ray had almost made it up to the sickbay level when he started hearing the computer message. "Meeting in the dining hall in ten minutes. All conscious survivors to attend if possible. Please make your way there. "

Ray checked his internal map and realized he wasn't that far from the place. Redirecting himself slightly he began walking again and as he turned a corner he almost bumped into someone. As he stumbled back he realized it was actually two people. One was his supervisor to be Sanne van Egmond and the other was a male that she was practically carrying through the debris.

"Ms Egmond are you ok?" asked Ray as he sees she is struggling a little to breathe. " Please let me carry that man and you can lean on me for a little bit. My names Ray, Ray Green. I was going to be working in one of your construction crews. Looks like I was the only one to get out in my section. If you will follow me I will take you to the meeting place. It is not too far ahead and I assume it is safe there."
So saying Ray set off with Sanne leaning on him and the man in his arms.

Location: In your mind and fantasies haunting and tempting and having some good dirty fun

Posts: 1,827

Alec Stone

Alec Tiberuis Stone was having a bad day

It started as just another routine day he and his skeleton crew checked all the sleeping pods, made sure the crew was prepared to go through the wormhole, and then started fixing a leaky pipe. Alec wanted every thing to be in tiptop shape before they traveled. Of course he wanted every thing to be in tiptop shape all the time. The military man who still resided in side of him (despite his best attempts to kill him) was OCD at best. His crew grumbled the entire time but they knew better to argue with him and soon the pip was fixed and they were moving to their harnesses to pass through the worm hole.

Then every thing went to shit

Alex felt his body ripping and burning with fire. He tried to claw his clothes away (surely they must be on fire!) be he couldn’t move his body. He heard warning alarms blaring all around him and the soldier in him tried to leap into action and fix the problem there was some thing wrong with the ship disastrous even. Instead of leaping however pain and fire flared across his body burning him and causing him to scream again and again in pain. God it hurt! It hurt so much!

Mary Grace saw the source of the screams. She had never met this man before. He wore a Maintenance Crew jumpsuit and his tag read 'Alec'. He was writhing all over the floor, patting himself and rolling as if on fire. There were no signs of fire and no burns on him that she could see. Carefully, she reached out her hand and gripped him by the shoulders. Looking down into his face, her green eyes sought comprehension in his stare as she asked, "Alec, Alec...Alec! Hi, I'm Sister Mary Grace Rowan. Most people just call me Sister Mary and that's fine."

As he grew quiet and stared at her she stopped to ask, "Are you alright? I'm a trained nurse... otherwise, we really ought to be getting to the dining hall to see how the others have fared. Alec, are you feeling well enough to walk with me?" She asked, reaching out her pale hand to help him up.

Location: In your mind and fantasies haunting and tempting and having some good dirty fun

Posts: 1,827

“I think so” Alec said starring into her eyes. He hadn’t been on fire thank it must have been a cause of his ptsd. He remembered the battle he was remembering and he shuddered instead finding solace in her eyes. Standing above him was the most beautiful girl in the world she was so beautiful she was glowing! Though in all honesty he was still half out of it from the ship exploding.

The ship exploding

“My name” Alec said shaking his head “Is Alec Stone I am the head engineer on the ship” he stated even as his whole body was wracked with pain “I need to” he murmured before he winced and gripped his leg.

Mary Grace helped Alec up. He winced as she examined his leg. "I can get this out and seal the wound up much better in normal lighting. Do you think with my help you could make it to the dining hall? I'm hoping the lights are working there. At the very least, then, I can set up triage...likely, you're not the only person with wounds." She said, urging him to put his weight on his good leg as she helped him limp along, ignoring the minor pain in her own leg for the moment. An actual wound trumps a few bumps and bruises to a swollen knee in Mary's view. She was moving at a slow, steady pace toward their destination so Alec could keep up.

She tapped the white scar on her hand implant and opened communications "Lt. Commander Rivers...she said, pausing for the computer to open the frequency for Alex Rivers, "Lt. Commander, I'm on my way to the dining hall with Mister Stone who has a lascerated lower left leg...I will need proper lighting there for possible surgical procedures and general first aid...Do you know if we have or can get full power to that space?"

Alex looked at Mitchell, helping him to take a seat at the nearest table in the dining hall. She called out, "Computer, lights, high." And was grateful to see the lights go to full brightness throughout the whole hall except for a length of panel at the end, close to the viewport and the dark corridor where a public restroom and storage area was. "OK, not bad...Sister Mary, it looks like there should be enough light in here for you to work, close to the kitchen, and even enough dark in the back, near the bathroom for those who need a rest... The dining hall is ready for wounded." She announced.

Mary Grace nodded despite the communication being only through sound and no one but Alec seeing the nod. " Thank the lord for small mercies!" She exclaimed, her Irish lilt strong in her stress. " We're on our way. Who's there with you do far, Ma'am?"

Alex did a quick head count. "Five, so far. Mitchell Templar, Rose Leland, Max Orkney, Evan Vygotsky, and myself. I'm going to begin with helping Vygotsky while we wait for your arrival...His eye looks...um, well, wounded." Alex winced, trying not to be squeamish as she laid the older scientist down, washed her hands in antiseptic cleaner, and poured sterile water over the seared and torn flesh, hoping to see salvageable eye but met with the sight of gore and the sound of his screams. "Uh...Rivers out." She closed the comm channel and indicated to the nearest people should help hold Vygotsky down while she got what looked yo be shrapnel out of his badly damaged right eyeball.

Sister Mary Grace shuddered at the sound coming over the comm before it was closed. She shared a look with Alec, "Let's get moving. She'll be needing my help soon." She said, picking up the pace now that they were closer.

Cheri was not able to drag the body for long, soon she was growing tired and the robot repeated, "Ms. Winston, there is no logic in carrying a body with you. There is still enough food in ship's stores and the hydroponics bay. If you do not seek to butcher the flesh for consumable meat there is no further use for a dead body to be weighing you down."

"FINE! He's dead, I get it!" She yelled in frustration at the nonplussed and hardly emotional robotic being. She dropped the heavy corpse and punched the wall in a quick burst of temper, falling to her knees crying. The robot, Crixus somethingorother, patted her on the head, its artificial flesh tangled and untangled in her honey colored ringlets of curls as it did so.

"There, there." It said, in an approximate imitation of sympathy. "I am sorry you are feeling so emotional. He will be honored in our memories." Was the best its processors could come up with as possible comforting words. Turning to continue to lead her away, its hand now moved to tug at her elbow gently, "Ms. Winston, it is time to go. There is a manditory staff meeting in the dining hall."

Deflated and feeling lost and defeated, Cheri said nothing and just walked on toward the dining hall alongside the robot. She didn't look back at who she'd left behind. She couldn't. That would be an image burned into her memory forever, like what he looked like when she flopped his heavy body down on the deck... That would be too much for her to bear! So, Cheri just walked on in silence.

They entered a brightly lit dining hall to the sounds of one of the physicists screaming in agony while one of the command staff bent over his face doing something causing both of them to curse like sailors. It looked painful but probably necessary. Who was that woman again? Cheri tried to recall the ship's roster during the mission preparation... Rivers, that was her name... she looked determined, concerned, focused...Chrri sighed and collapsed into a chair as she watched, thankful someone other than her looked like a natural leader.

"Holy Mother...thank you Commander. It was getting a bit close in there." As he was ordered to follow, Mitchel started off after the officer, then hesitated, darting back into the hydroponics lab to grab one of the emergency first aid units off the wall. There was no way to know what they were going to meet heading out into this wreck of a ship.

Arriving at the dining hall, he opened the pack and moved to help Commander Rivers perform first aid on the wounded. He pulled out the various supplies, laying them out and then moving to help hold down Vygotsky as Rivers worked on his damaged eye. Reaching over with a free hand, he jabbed a sedative into the injured man's arm, easing the pain as Rivers dug around for the shrapnel.

Sister Mary Grace instructed him to search for and rescue any survivors and he obeyed without question. Using the electronic charge in his right hand he was able to stop bleeding and seal broken bones. But the dead were beyond his help. Not only was his mentor dead, so was Dr James Muller. One of the drone class robots was trying to explain to Cheri that her mentor was dead but not getting very far.

141 intervened “Mistress Cheri I’m afraid my colleague is correct, the good doctor is indeed dead.” Seeing the stress in her eyes he continued “Of course I cannot understand the concept of grief, nevertheless I am here to assist in any way I can. If it would be of any assistance I could create a hologram image of Dr Muller that you can interact with. But that will not be until after the full extent of the damage is known.”

As he spoke another small explosion echoed round the chamber “It is my duty to escort you now to a place of safety and support. I suggest I take you to Sister Mary Grace".

"Templar, youre awesome." Alex murmured as she watched the sedative take effect. It wouldn't do more than dull the pain but that was better than nothing. Rivers was grateful for the help. This was not really her favorite thing to do, like...ever.

Vygotsky's anguished screams and having to root around through eye jelly...She was barely holding back bile. "I'm sorry, I have to get this out, Evan. I'm not trying to hurt you on purpose." She said through gritted teeth as she worked.

"AhhhhhhFuckinghell! I know! Just HURRY!" He yelled, pounding his fist against the floor in reaction to her latest movement.

Alex grimaced and looked up in time to see two service bots arrive with one of the younger science crew and as happy as she was to see young Cheri Winston, she'd been hoping to see the nun walking through that door so she could take over for Alex with, perhaps, a steadier and more practiced hand. Oh well, back to the grit..."Hang on Vygotsky, I think I've almost got it all out now. And, Sister Mary's on the way soon. She'll know how to fix it." She hoped.

As the scream echoed back through the corridor, Quentin clutched his spasming arm with his good hand, gritting his teeth through the agony. No shock.... he was still conscious. He felt the blood dribbling through his fingers, but it seemed like he had avoided any arteries... still... this was going to bleed.

He looked around, and didn't find anything he could use as a bandage. even if he did, he doubted there was much he could do with a wound this deep.

His eyes fell on the cryostasis pod next to his. The explosive decompression had ruined it too, but the occupant had faired far worse. just like in his, the sheared optic cabling had ripped through the chamber, but rather than lacerating an arm, the cables had slashed open a huge amount of the persons chest and throat. there wasn't much to see from down on the deck, but even from here, he could see that there wasn't much left.

Still... the uniform was fairly obvious. they were part of the ship's security force. they would have a sidearm. he could cauterize the wound. It would leave him open to infection, but at least he would stop losing so much blood.

He put a foot under him, not wanting to take his hand away from the seeping wound in his arm, and pushed, sliding on his back closer to the neighboring pod. as he got closer, he could see more of the savaged wreckage that had been a body. he felt his stomach bile churn... and had to swallow. he hadn't eaten in forever, so he didn't have anything to vomit, but the last thing he wanted was to start heaving before he took care of his arm.

He rolled onto his side, and let go of his arm, reaching up the inside of the pod. The person's body was still warm... the decompression couldn't have happened less than an hour ago. wetness dribbled from his face, his eyes and nose and mouth, as he fought the urge to throw up as his hand closed around the body's hip. it was a woman. he reached to the side, pressing his face against the cold nanoplastic of the pod... finding her holster.

his fingers gripped the weapon, and he collapsed onto his back, forcing himself to breathe. he turned the weapon, aiming the aperture at the blue force where the energy discharge would dissipate along the hyperacclerated proton field, and pulled the trigger. the beam was intense enough to carve through a bulkhead, but it fizzled harmlessly in the energy field. the weapon itself, though, got hotter and hotter in his hand. the stock kept it safe to touch, but the aperture was beginning to glow. he held it for another long moment.... released the trigger, and quickly, before it had a chance to cool, he pressed it deeply into the open wound on his arm.

and howled.

he threw up. he didn't know what came out of him, if it was just stomach fluid or blood.... but he coughed as the acrid filth pushed out of him. it was worse than pulling out the cord. even as he pulled it away, his arm twitched in pain. even still.... the would pushed right through. it was open on the other side.

he turned the weapon on the field, beginning to let it heat up all over again.

Sanne and Ray dragged the crewman along quite steadily and were halfway to the dining hall when the man cried out, his body going rigid. They stopped, looked at him, then each other...She carefully laid him down, obvious dismay showing in her features when it finally registered what was happening. The man flopped onto the floor, his body shaking and writhing with convulsions.

"Ik weet niet...I don't know what to do, Ray. What should we do for him?" She asked.

She looked up into Ray's face but his eyes were fixed upon the man lying between them.

She looked back down again. "Bloody hell!"
The man had stopped moving, he'd stopped screaming...everything had stopped...
"Dead? No! Can't be dead!" She cried out, tears rolling from her azure eyes and falling down onto the man below...Sanne moved his arm from his chest and began compressions and rescue breathing. She knew C.P.R. Maybe he could still be saved.

Cheri felt too jittery to stay sitting in the dining hall feeling helpless while others worked on Vygotsky's eye or else sat around looking dazed and exhausted. She needed something to keep herself busy. She decided to walk around, not far, just outside the room, in the area just a few feet down the corridor from the dining hall was a large viewport. She decided to go there, settle her nerves a bit, and literally stare out into space...She could see the stars do well with the halls all dark except for blue emergency lights. She absolutely had never seen anything like this place they were adrift in now. It was...totally alien. Cheri felt so tiny and cold when the fact of being lost out in the middle of nowhere truly occurred to her. Scary shit. How would they live on a broken down vessel with just a small group of them? So, they'd lived initially? Maybe the lucky ones were the people who'd never lived to see the end of the journey, never got chewed up and spat out, who knows where, by the wormhole...In their consciousness they could have made it to their own Beta, a paradise so perfect they'll never even know why they have it so easy...

A scream.
Not Vygotsky, someone else.
Cheri ran gingerly towards the sound, in the darkness, she felt feline as she relied upon instinct and memory to help her find her way, her ears told her where to find him.

"Why are you shooting your...oh! Let me help you up. You're not far from the dining hall where we're all meeting up. There's first aid there. Come on!" Cheri said, helping the guy not much bigger than her and perhaps even lighter,up." I'm Cheri. Cheri Winston." She said once she'd gotten him moving. "You're the computer geek, uh, I mean computer programmer dude, right" She smiled apologetically, "Sorry, what's your name?"

As he introduced himself they rounded a corner and she pointed out the light at the end of the corridor. "See? The dining hall. At least we'll all be together if we can't be safe, right?"

Location: In the craziness of my mind. Oh and my body normally resides in the land Down Under.

Posts: 7,381

Ray felt helpless. He knew basic first aide but this was beyond him. Well at one time it hadn't been, he had known quite a bit of medical knowledge and a lot of other things as well, but that had all been replaced by the vast knowledge now stored in his mind about construction techniques to be used on beta, how to build everything the colony would need, how to repair things etc. he had lost a lot but gained a lot in return. The company had only left him with the basic knowledge of who he was, the rest was what they wanted him to know.

Ray looked at Sanne and then knelt beside her. "What can I do to help Ms?"

Sanne told Ray exactly where, how, and when to do compressions on the man's chest. She continued the breathing. This went on for a long time....

Not very far away, sister Mary Grace was helping a man named Alec one minute and in the very next he'd begun screaming again, like she'd heard when he'd been hallucinating being on fire only this time he pushed her, hard, into the wall and ran off screaming as if afraid of her.

"What the..." she trailed off, catching her breath and limping after him...then deciding to let him go. He could be dangerous. The last thing she needed was to try to fight off some insane guy...So, with others likely needing her medical aid she moved on to the dining hall and found a triage scene indeed requiring her help.

Whilst scrubbing up to begin surgery on Vygotsky she informed the man named Templar, "There's a wounded man out there, Alec Stone or something...He seems, um, delusional, violent, possibly dangerous. I didn't want to go after him alone. Somebody ought to check on him. He's not safe to himself or others in this state. He needs sedation and evaluation."

She turned to her patient, thanking Lt. Commander Rivers for an excellent start, and began what was necessary to remove the irrevocably damaged eyeball.

Back out in the darkened corridors, Sanne and Ray got their previously dead compatriot gadping for air and sputtering.

She was so elated she actually hugged Ray with relief. They helped the man up and he slowly walked with their aid in the direction of the dining hall. "Nicky Santos. Maintenance man." He introduced himself. "Thank you both for saving my life."

But, then, out of seemingly nowhere Alec ran roaring out of the darkness, his mind back in the last world war where he was made a hero, a veteran with honors and medals, and scars, wounds, P.T.S.D...and he was back there now. Enemy fire surrounding him. Face to face with his foe. He hauled off and punched one of them, a woman, she fell back into the protective arms of one of the men she was with the one who'd just been talking...

The other one put himsrlf between those two and Alec. But, Alec wasn't scared of the enemy. No way would he take going back to P.O.W. camp again...Before he knew it, he had a laser pistol pointed at the big wannabe hero of the moment...
And, his legs gave out. The bitch had swept his legs out from under him!

Alec went down hard. Sanne and Nicky watched as Ray took the moment of surprize to grab Slec's weapon from him.

Alec, even without a weapon, was not ready to give up his war. He jumped at Ray, teeth gnashing violently, eyes bulging...

A shot was fired.

Sanne watched Alec's lifeless body collapse onto the deck. A hole through his chest. No. That's not recoverable.
There was nothing to say. She was tired, way too wired, and now her cheek hurt where she'd been punched hard enough to swell up and make seeing out of her left eye difficult. "Dining hall. Now." She demanded, taking off on long legs in the direction of light and warmth.